Date: Sun, 24 Jul 2022 13:32:01 -0400
Reply-To: Eric Caron <ericcaron96@COMCAST.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Eric Caron <ericcaron96@COMCAST.NET>
Subject: Re: Stock fridge vent delete option
In-Reply-To: <1FEFA71B-9E3E-44A5-8F13-63B26504C518@shaw.ca>
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All great info.
Currently I have a stock fridge working great so I can’t justify any changes. And the other set up has an electric cooler and the elimination kit for more storage.
I like the electric cooler a lot though it still vents warm into the van if in the van. But less heat than the original fridge.
I can bring the electric cooler in either van so it is a great addition. I’m also wondering if maybe the portable lithium battery pack for it might be a good future solution. I could use in either van, use in the car, use for gatherings .
Both vans have a good house battery so not doing that yet.
So many good choices. Only big downside on the cooler is it takes up valuable floor space.
Eric Caron
> On Jul 24, 2022, at 1:08 PM, Alistair Bell <albell@SHAW.CA> wrote:
>
> Dave,
>
> I doubt there are many out there who have been a more ardent supporter of the stock fridge than me :-)
>
> I’ve worked on it for 29 years, same fridge. First in my 2wd westy then when it was swapped into my Syncro.
>
> I’ve tried all kinds of mods to help it work, I’ve done extensive testing. I maxed out at a 22-23 C temp diff between the van inside temp and the fridge inside temp.
>
> And I was happy with that . Was mostly, mostly, good enough for the camping we do up here.
>
> Certainly is not good enough when the ambient temps get into the 30s C.
>
> But last couple of summers the fridge started to act up on occasion. Last summer I even had to pull the fridge and clean the burner jet during a trip. Got it working well again and then when we moved to another camp spot, over rough roads, it a Ted uo again.
>
> Yeah, sounds like contaminant in the propane tank.
>
> But that finally had me so peeved I decided to go electric .
>
> I did feel sad when I pulled the old fridge, funny feeling. Lots of sweat and time had gone into it.
>
> But a fridge is supposed to keep things cool. I couldn’t trust it anymore.
>
> Oh and btw, I have a new propane tank installed now too.
>
> The new fridge will keep inside between 0-3.5 C ( recent testing setting, that’s the coldest regular setting, there is one more setting that takes the entire fridge below zero). These last tests done plugged into ac power, and monitored by a power meter on the supply line. The power use may well be more efficient on van DC power as it won’t be using the built in ac to dc converter. But as I said, it averages , over 5 day test, to be about 0.9 A/hr. Somewhere around 40W per hour. I got similar results on dc testing last fall, bench test, but I can’t find my notes ti give you accurate numbers.
>
> And yes our vans are antiques. Seems crazy sometimes for me to take the van where I do, it’s 36 years old.
>
> Alistair
>
>> On Jul 24, 2022, at 9:31 AM, David McNeely <davmcneely40@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> Thanks Alistair. I removed the stock refrigerator 2 years ago to free up space, as it was for all practical purposes dead. It still cooled, but inadequately, and I cleaned and reinsulated the flue, cleaned the burner box, put additional insulation behind the refrigerator, added a small fan in the vent space, did pretty much everything that should have helped. No or marginal improvement, so I just took it out and rely on a Yeti cooler. The old Dometic now sits in my shop, taking up space there, but at least not frustrating me with warm beer on a camping trip. But I really liked the refrigerator when it worked well, and it did for several years after I got the van. If I decide to upgrade with solar and a house battery, then I will also go with a new refrigerator. But how long can we keep these antiques going? I'm really anxious for the new EV Buzz, but it may be too high tech for me.
>>
>>> On Sun, Jul 24, 2022 at 8:28 AM Alistair Bell <albell@shaw.ca> wrote:
>>> Hi Dave,
>>>
>>> The fridge is a wee bit larger capacity. Not much, but more usable space as there isn’t any cooling unit exposed . The top 1/3 can be sectioned off by a neat removable partition and door to make a freezer section.
>>>
>>> The overall width is smaller than stock, as is the hight. The depth is a little more though so it does protrude from cabinetry abiut an inch. You can mod the fridge , cut some insulation… to fix that , but I didn’t want to do that.
>>>
>>> Cools very nicely. Got this fridge last summer, did a number of bench tests on it. Roughly, from memory, the power draw averages out to around 0.9A per hour at 12.7 volts. The compressor is very quiet when running, a little less noise than the stock fridge external cooling fan.
>>>
>>> There are less expensive fridges ones the market… truckfridge for example. And there is an European fridge…. Might be a vitrifrigo model… that fits the stock space much better. But I got a good price on this unit. And I already have a 200 Ahr aux battery and 160watts of solar, so really an electric fridge is a no brainer.
>>>
>>> https://www.dometic.com/en-nz/outdoor/nz/products/food-and-beverage/refrigerators/rv-refrigerators/dometic-coolmatic-crx-50-_-55521
>>>
>>> Alistair
>>>
>>>>> On Jul 23, 2022, at 9:11 PM, David McNeely <davmcneely40@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Alistair, What about fit? Dimensions a close replacement for the stock refrigerator? It is quite a bit bigger, inside volume (cooled space).
>>>>
>>>>> On Sat, Jul 23, 2022 at 6:55 PM Alistair Bell <albell@shaw.ca> wrote:
>>>>> Yeah I went over. I’ve installed a Dometic CRX-50 fridge. And I repurposed the stock fridge vent .
>>>>> https://shufti.blog/2022/07/23/vanagon-stock-fridge-vent-delete-option/
>>>>>
>>>>> Alistair
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